The tech mogul quipped that he “was nowhere near France.”
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, sparked curiosity when he attended a press conference at the Oval Office with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday, sporting what appeared to be a black eye.
The event focused on Musk stepping down from his leadership position in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force created to reduce wasteful federal spending.
When journalists inquired about his eye injury, Musk explained that he had been “horsing around” with his son, “Lil X.”
“I told him to punch me in the face, and he did,” the entrepreneur recounted. “I didn’t feel much at the time, but I guess it bruised afterward.”
Trump mentioned that he hadn’t noticed Musk’s injury until it was brought up by the journalists. “X could do it. If you knew X, he could do it,” the president commented.
Musk also joked that he “was nowhere near France” when he sustained the injury, alluding to an incident earlier in the week where France’s First Lady, Brigitte Macron, playfully slapped President Emmanuel Macron’s face in front of cameras as they were disembarking a plane during a visit to Vietnam.
On Thursday, The New York Times published a report, citing anonymous sources, alleging that Musk has been consuming significant amounts of drugs, including ketamine “often, sometimes daily,” mixing it with other substances, and using ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms.
When questioned about the article, the tech billionaire dismissed the NYT, stating that it is “the same publication that received a Pulitzer Prize for false reporting on Russiagate.”
Trump expressed his gratitude to Musk for his work leading DOGE, while Musk assured that his departure does “not the end” of the agency. “I will continue to visit and be a friend and advisor to the president,” Musk stated.
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